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Useful Chinese Phrases

Yunnan province is an area of great cultural and linguistic diversity.
Many of the minority people living in Yunnan do not speak Mandarin as
a first language, and some don't speak Mandarin well at all. For
example, many Tibetans living in Xianggelila speak the local Tibetan
dialect as a first language. This dialect is unique to the area, and
dialects from as nearby as Deqin are mutually unintelligable. Adding
to the melee is the fact that the Chinese normally spoken in Yunnan is
based on the Kunming dialect, which is itself based on, but not the
same as, Mandarin Chinese. From a practical point of view though, you
will still best be able to communicate with the people here using
Mandarin Chinese.

We are collecting here some basic phrases which you may find useful
when travelling through China. Feel free to print this page out and
use it while communicating. Sometimes, it may be difficult to get the pronunciation of a particular phrase correct, and pointing at the Chinese characters
can sometimes be a more effective way of getting your meaning across.
We've marked in bold or italics some corresponding parts of each
phrase in English, Pinyin and Chinese. For the most part, if you
want to replace one of these segments in English, you simply replace
the corresponding segment in Chinese as well with the right word from
a dictionary, for example.

A key point to remember is to not be afraid of trying to say things.
In most travelling situations, the person (ticket seller, hotel staff)
you're talking to is only expecting to hear one of a handful of
different words, and with this context, it's possible to mispronounce
something fairly drastically and still be understood.

This phrasebook is under construction. If you'd like to know how to
say something generally useful in Mandarin that's not listed here,
please suggest it to us.

Basic Phrases (and Responses)

Hello

níhăo

你好

How are you? [Good/Okay/Bad]

níhăoma? [wŏ hén hăo/hái kéyĭ/wŏ bù hăo]

你好吗? [我很好/还可以/我不好]

Bye

zàijiàn

再见

Thank you [You're welcome]

xièxiè [búkèqi]

谢谢 [不客气]

Excuse me (sorry) [No Problem]

duìbúqì [méiguānxì]

对不气 [没关系]

Excuse me (I have a question)

qĭngwèn

请问

Where's the toilet?

cèsuŏ zài nálĭ?

厕所在哪里?

How much? (money)

duōshăo qián?

多少钱?

This

zhèige

这个

That

nèige

那个

Shall we go?/Let's go

zŏuba?

走吧？

I don't understand (what you said)

wŏ tīngbùdŏng

我听不懂

Can you speakEnglish?

nĭ huì jiăngyīngwén ma?

你会讲英文吗？

Please give me a pair of chopsticks.

qĭng géi wŏ yī shuāngkuàizi

请给我一双筷子

Please give me two bottles of beer.

qĭng géi
wŏ liăng píngpíjĭu

请给我两瓶啤酒

Basic Generic Responses

I don't want it (this, that, these, those)

búyào

不要

Yes/I agree/I heard you

èn (pronounced "uh or uhn", 4th tone)

嗯

Numbers

There are two forms of the number "two" (2) in Mandarin. The first
one, èr (二), is used when reciting telephone numbers, counting from 1
to 10, and for the tens and digits places in large numbers like "two
thousand two hundred twenty two". The other form, liăng (两), is used
when counting anything (2 minutes, 2 yuan, 2 bottles of beer, 2
people), as well as the hundreds and greater places in large numbers
in colloquial speech.

0

líng

〇 or 零

1

yī

一

2 (number)

èr

二

2 (things)

liăng

两

3

sān

三

4

sì

四

5

wŭ

五

6

lìu

六

7

qī

七

8

bā

八

9

jĭu

九

10

shí

十

11

shíyī

十一

12

shíèr

十二

13

shísān

十三

27

èrshíqī

二十七

100

yībăi

一百

101

yībăilíngyī

一百零一

110

yībăiyīshí

一百一十

114

yībăiyīshísì

一百一十四

1000

yīqiān

一千

2222

liăngqiānliăngbăièrshíèr

两千两百二十二

Internet

Internet Cafe

wăngbā

网吧

Time

Now

xiànzài

现在

Today

jīntiān

今天

2:34 pm

xìawŭliăngdiănsānshísì

下午两点三十四

11:00 am

shàngwŭshíyīdiănzhōng

上午十一点钟

Tomorrow

míngtiān

明天

Yesterday

zuótiān

昨天

Day after tomorrow

hòutiān

后天

Day before yesterday

qiántiān

前天

3 days later (3 days from now)

sāntiān yĭhòu

三天以后

2 monthsbefore (2 months ago)

liăng gè yuèyĭqián

两个月以前

December

shíèryuèfen

十二月份

November 28

shíyīyuèèrshíbā

十一月二十八

November 28 (generally when written)

shíyīyuèèrshíbārì

11月28日

November 28 (optionally when spoken)

shíyīyuèèrshíbāhào

十一月二十八号

Money

How much is this?

zhèige duōshăo qián?

这个多少钱?

Cheapest (literally: mostcheap)

zuìpíanyíde

最便宜的

Get money (out of a bank account/using credit card)

qŭqián

取钱

Toilets

Men/Women

nán/nǚ

男/女

Toilet Paper

wèishēngzhĭ

卫生纸

Transportation

I want to go toKunming

wŏ yào qùkūnmíng

我要去昆明

Train station

huŏchē zhàn

火车站

Hard seat (train)

yìngzuŏ

硬坐

Soft seat (train)

ruănzuŏ

软坐

Hard sleeper (train)

yìngwò

硬卧

Soft sleeper (train)

ruănwò

软卧

Public Bus

gonggongqiche

公共汽车

Taxi

dishi

的士

Accommodation

Hotel

fàndiàn/jĭudiàn/bīn'guăn

饭店/酒店/宾馆

Hostel

kèzhàn/lǚguăn

客栈/旅馆

Single Room

dānrénfáng

单人房

Double Room

shuāngrénfáng

双人房

Dormitory Room

duōrénfáng

多人房

Departures

Take care

baozhong

保重

Safe Trip

yilu ping'an

一路平安

You May Hear

Welcome!

huānyíng guānglín

欢迎光临

Is the food okay? [Yes/No]

hăochī ma? [hăochī/bùhăochī]

好吃吗？[好吃/不好吃]

Do you understand? (meaning) [Yes/No]

míngbái ma? [míngbái/bùmíngbái]

明白吗? [明白/不明白]

Do you understand? (listening) [Yes/No]

tīngdedŏngma? [tīngdedŏng/tīngbùdŏng]

听得懂吗? [听得懂/听不懂]

Foreigner

lăowài

老外

Good friend

hăopéngyŏu

好朋友

Smoke? [Thanks/I don't smoke]

xī yān ma? [xièxiè/wŏbúxīyān]

吸烟吗? [谢谢/我不吸烟]

You May See

Entrance

rùkŏu

入口

Exit

chūkŏu

出口

Car (on a train)

chē

车

Center (as in Shopping Center)

zhōngxīn

中心

China

zhōngguó

中国

Road

lù

路

Street

jiē

街

Recommended Phrasebooks

For those in the beginning stages of learning the language, or even
just hoping to get around in China, a good Mandarin phrasebook is
essential. I have personally used the
Lonely
Planet Mandarin Phrasebook, 4th Edition, which was indispensable
on my first trip to China.

In particular, I recommend against the
5th Edition, simply because it has replaced romanizations in
Pinyin, standard in any other modern book on Chinese (including the
4th edition), with its own incompatible homegrown variant.

I haven't used the Rough
Guide Mandarin Chinese, 2nd Edition in the "field", but I have flipped through
it. The translations looked good, and phrases are organized
alphabetically by "key word". This organization is better suited
toward your communicating things to Chinese people than the other way
around.